Hellscapers
by Mother Of The Universe
Summary: One old man ends up adopting two young kids. Two young kids get wrapped up in mysteries and danger unseen before. Of course, they have their Grunkle Stan to help them every step of the way. But the looming fear that he'll loose the kids forever to a hellscape that can't be navigated still looms, as does the triangle in his nightmares, ready to tear it all apart. Contains blood.


**So, I may or may not have completely fallen in love with Gravity Falls. I just finished the series yesterday and am already wishing for more, and having a crisis on what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life now that it's over. **

**But that's why fanfiction exist! **

**So here I am, ready to write an entire AU about or favorite kid twins and grumpy old men because my mission as a fanfic writer is to explore all the possibilities of what could've been; create a story so amazing that nothing could possibly compare! Or you know, a mediocre fic that's enjoyable at least. **

**A girl can dream**

**But anyways, Hellscapers is an AU where the twins end up in their Grunkles custody, Stan finds the journals earlier than expected, and then everything goes to hell as things tend to do, but that's neither here nor there, at the moment. **

**So, without further ado, on with the show!**

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Chapter 1: The Death of Shermie Pines.

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It was odd, but not surprising, that he'd lose another brother. After what went down with his twin, it just made sense that Shermie would be the next head on Death's plate, so to speak. He was sailing with his son when a storm hit the boat, drowning both the father and his boy in choppy waters. Leaving a woman without a husband, and two children without a father and a grandfather.

Great, now sailing was practically ruined for him.

His niece-in-law had called him a week after the bodies where found, informing him that his youngest brother was dead, just like his younger twin who died in a car crash almost twenty-five years ago. That he; Stanford Pines, was the only one of them left.

Of course, the younger twin; Stanley, didn't really die, and he wasn't Stanford, having only assumed the name out of desperation to get money so he could keep his secret project going (also, not dying from hunger was a pretty nice side effect of his deception). No, the younger twin was alive and well, holding the other Stan's name and living in the other Stan's cabin, waiting for the day that he could finally bring his brother; the real Stanford Pines, home, hopefully in one piece.

He felt bad; Shermie's death didn't sting like losing a brother really should have. But that wasn't exactly his fault; he was thrown out of the house when Shermie was just a baby; he never really got the chance to really meet his little brother.

He heard about the kids life; little tidbits from stolen newspapers scattered about here and there; apparently the kid seemed like he would be a prodigy, but ended up befriending the wrong crowd and falling down a dark path. He sold illegal substances during his teen years, got his girlfriend pregnant, and then dropped out of high school to raise the baby she left behind after dying during childbirth. Still; the son was enough of a motive for him to put his life together, and he ended up moving to Kansas and opening a grocery store. It was a life. Put his son through college; allowing the boy to grab himself a stable job as a historian in California, marry his coworker, and have two kids at the reasonable age of 26, unlike Shermie; raising his own son at 16.

At least Stan could take comfort in knowing he wasn't the _only_ screw-up in the family, even if the thought was a bit petty and sadistic.

Oh well.

Currently, he was walking through the woods, wondering whether or not it would be appropriate for him to come to the funeral. He didn't attend his parents funeral when they died of liver failure, and heart attacks, and other old people problems, a little over five years ago; he had a feeling that his father wouldn't have wanted him there anyways. And even if he was related to Shermie, it wasn't like he really knew him. He didn't know what the man looked like; nor did he know what his son looked like, or his sons wife, or their kids. The only contact he had with the family was the occasional phone call from his nephews wife, and even then, he had a feeling she called him more out of politeness than an actual desire to talk to him.

Imagining himself showing up to the funeral out of nowhere was discomforting, to say the least.

Stanley Pines let out a long sigh of frustration; how did things get like this? His head fell, and he leaned against the cold metallic tree standing in front of him.

Wait— , cold and metallic?

Stan observed the strange structure; this wasn't a tree. It was cold and echoed when he tapped it, and it had a strange groove that almost looked like —

A door.

Stan wedged his fingers into the groove, swinging the small tree-door open with a hard force. Inside was some kind of machine that almost looked like a radio.

With no other idea what to do, Stan started pushing buttons. Little mechanical whirls and clicks made their performances, and suddenly there was a sound of something sliding from right behind him.

He stopped and turned around, looking at the little hatch in the ground that had just opened up, with a treasure, sitting in the small pit.

Stan approached his treasure and picked it up.

It was a sight for sore eyes; a red leather book with a six-fingered hand plated in gold on the cover, with the number 3 written in black ink on top of it.

Stan had found it! The 3rd journal! He was so close!

Just one more book, and he could finally get his brother back.

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**So here is the beginning of the AU, and my first Gravity Falls fanfic. Hope you all enjoy it. Review, like, follow, and all that other good stuff. Y'all know the drill. **

**~Mother Universe signing out! **


End file.
